Dr. Stuart Brown on Why Play is Vital – No Matter Your Age
I talked yesterday about play and relaxation, and how conducive play is to relaxation, stress relief and healthy living. Today’s article is a video from a May 2008 talk by Dr. Stuart Brown.
A pioneer in research on play, Dr. Stuart Brown says humor, games, roughhousing, flirtation and fantasy are more than just fun. Plenty of play in childhood makes for happy, smart adults — and keeping it up can make us smarter at any age.
Dr. Stuart Brown came to research play through research on murderers — unlikely as that seems — after he found a stunning common thread in killers’ stories: lack of play in childhood. Since then, he’s interviewed thousands of people to catalog their relationships with play, noting a strong correlation between success and playful activity.
With the support of the National Geographic Society and Jane Goodall, he has observed animal play in the wild, where he first conceived of play as an evolved behavior important for the well being — and survival — of animals, especially those of higher intelligence. Now, through his organization, the National Institute for Play, he hopes to expand the study of human play into a vital science — and help people everywhere enjoy and participate in play throughout life.
Play allows us as adults to stay in touch with the child within. And when you lose that child within, you lose spontaneity, creativity, joy and happiness.
So keep playing, you hear? You’ll definitely find stress relief by playing, and you’ll definitely feel like you’re experiencing healthy living .